Châteauneuf-du-Pape is not cheap. As a result, this wine review has turned into an article about two relatively cheap Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape region has seen a huge increase in demand and popularity and can now afford to charge premium prices for their wines. I’d personally consider a good quality Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine for less than $40 to be cheap.
So lets take a look at two highly rated wines that fit into that very category. I recently did a taste test and comparison of the 2005 Perrin & Fills and the La Roquete. You can see the pictures of each bottle below. Both were great.
Perrin & Fills Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005
It has a dark red color, much darker than the La Roquete. On the nose I picked up a little oak, plum and blackberry. The mid palate was was light with a hint of strawberry. It might just need more time to develop in the bottle. The finish was the best part of this wine providing strawberry and plum.
I paid $34 for this wine. I had a couple other people taste it over the next two days and both of them enjoyed it just as much as I did.
La Roquete Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005
This wine came in at #41 on the Spectator top 100 for 2008. This was my favorite of the two. The wine was very complex, probably too complex for my palate. There is a great ruby red color to this wine in the glass. The aroma was great offering up what I would describe as rustic and red roses followed up by a little sage. Very nice. On the taste I picked up the oak and dark red fruit with more sage. The La Roquete was so enjoyable we ended up finishing it that night. This 05 is a great value at $27.
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